Legacy
by Herpestidae
Summary: On the day the Sea Ravens flew, he died for her. Since the day the Sea Ravens flew, he lived in her. AU.
1. Prologue: It Begins

Okay. I have another fic.

Because plot bunnies will never leave me alone.

So I wrote an essay about _Avatar: The Last Airbender _for a Gender Studies class, and among the standard bullshit that you put in to stretch out a college paper, I added in that Katara acts like a mother because she lost hers; she sees the role as empowering in some way.

Then I read some list of random AU plotbunnies, one of them being that Katara had died instead of Kya.

And after my mind got to work, I came up with this.

I know the exact line at which you will all call me an evil, sadistic bastard.

* * *

"Now, tell me. Who is it? Who's the waterbender?"

This woman was stubborn. "There _are_ no waterbenders here. The Fire Nation took them all away a long time ago."

"You're lying. My source says there's one waterbender left in The Southern Water Tribe. We're not leaving until we find the waterbender."

Her head lowered. "If I tell you, do you promise to leave the rest of the village alone?"

Yon Rha nodded, and she took a deep breath, her decision made. "It's me. Take me-"

"You're lying,"he interrupted.

He marched over to the kneeling woman and roughly dragged her up by the collar. "Who. Is. The waterbender?"

Her only response was a glare.

"We can do this the easy way," Yon Rha growled, igniting a flame in his free hand, "or the hard way."

No response.

"Fine by me, but you _will_ talk."

"Kya!"

Yon Rha turned toward the new disturbance- a man racing toward the hut- but the woman grabbed his head before he could get a good look. Her forehead slammed into his nose, and with a Yell of pain and rage, he slugged her across the face with an armored fist, just as the "disturbance" sent a spear racing toward his ribs. He sidestepped and countered with a flaming punch that blew the savage across the room.

"Dad!" A boy had chosen to challenge him this time, with some sort of toy ready to throw, but the woman yelled to him.

"Sokka, no! Take Katara and run!"

The boy- Sokka- did as he was told. Good boy.

_So it's the girl_, Yon Rha mused. _Good to know_.

He made after them, but as he exited the igloo, the man tackled him.

Yon Rha rolled, and threw him off, pouncing on the warrior and bludgeoning him into submission. He got up, brushed the snow off of his armor, and nonchalantly went after the children, guided by their footsteps in the snow.

* * *

Katara could barely keep up with her brother as he dragged her through snowbanks and around huts, searching for a place to hide. Finally, they found a pile of logs and huddled behind it, barely breathing. The trump of heavy boots came closer and closer, until that man's voice sounded from right outside their hiding place.

"You may as well have stayed in one place. In addition to the fact that you left footprints, you picked the absolute worst place to hide from a firebender. So are you coming out on your own, or will i have to force you out?"

Katara whimpered, but Sokka shushed her.

"It's okay; I'll handle this."

He stepped out of the hiding place and faced the soldier, boomerang at the ready. Katara could see his face, stern and unafraid.

The soldier laughed.

"Please tell me you're joking. Your father didn't put up much of a fight against me." He grinned. At Sokka's expression, Katara assumed. "Oh, he's alive. He'll have a bit of a headache when he awakens, but he'll be fine."

Sokka growled and took a step forward.

"Must it all end in violence? Once I have the waterbender, my men and I will-"

_CLANG!_

Sokka's boomerang bounced off of the soldier's helmet and returned to his waiting hand. Katara giggled to herself.

"Fine. Have it your way."

* * *

Sokka saw the man prepare an attack. He told himself he would face it with the honor and courage of a Water Tribe warrior. But in the end, he couldn't. As the fire raced toward, him he threw his hands up, as though it would protect him.

The fire never reached him. He opened his eyes, and saw the soldier through the hole in the wall of ice.

"_You're_ the waterbender?" the soldier asked, incredulous.

___Don'tlookatKatara__Don'tlookatKatara__Don'tlookatKatara__..._

Sokka knew what was next, what the soldier wanted. He knelt on the ground, holding both hands up toward his now captor. The boots crunched in the snow as they came toward him.

"I'm not taking prisoners."

Sokka started to move when he heard the sliding of metal, but by then, it was too late.

* * *

Yon Rha removed the dagger from the boy's skull. Pity it had to be one so young. But orders were orders. Find waterbender, kill waterbender. He blew on his horn, sounding a tactical retreat.

* * *

Katara ran to Sokka's limp form as his blood pooled on the snow. She shook him, called his name. No answer. She ignored the tears running down her face, the gut instinct that told her he was gone. She could find a way. She could-

"I am sorry," the soldier muttered, "truly I am. It is always sad to see a child lose his life, but my orders-"

"He lied."

"What?"

In response, a geyser erupted beneath his feet, causing him to jump backward.

"He lied to you."

Katara raised an arm, and brought it down savagely.

Yon Rha's head was on the ground before he could throw a punch.

* * *

Yeah. I just stabbed nine-year-old Sokka in the head. And had seven-year-old Katara kill a man.

This is not going to go well, is it?

Nope.


	2. The Boy in the Iceberg Part A

For the record, Sokka is definitely my favorite character in ATLA because he's basically me if I could fight worth a damn. So it really hurt me to kill him. But what's done is done, yeah?

* * *

"I asked for _pushups_, Rukna. That was not a pushup. Five more."

The young girl, from her position on the ground, looked up into Katara's fierce blue eyes.

"But I can barely do one-"

"_Ten_ more!"

"That's not-"

Katara pressed her foot against the smaller girl's back, forcing her prone.

"Do you want to go for twenty?"

Obediently, Rukna began pushing against the ground, willing strength into her muscles. Without turning her head, Katara addressed the rest of the children- boys and girls- out on the ice field.

"And the three of you who aren't minding their _own_ business- you and I both know who you are- may join her. Fifteen for each of you!"

A pause.

"Since I don't hear counting, I'm now expecting _thirty_ pushups each from Ukro, Nanku, and Toki. Get started."

Groaning, the three offenders got into position and began counting off pushups. When they were finished, Katara walked between the two rows, shouting orders once again.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen. This is an important step in your warrior training. Today... we work with weapons."

A cheer rose up from the collected children, but the squabbling cut off when Katara turned back and glared at them.

"Don't get so worked up just yet!"

With a wave of Katara's hand, a bushel of icicles rose from the ground, forming themselves into clubs and floating in front of each warrior-to-be. Each of them also received an ice sculpture of a Fire Nation soldier, standing directly in front of them.

"You only get one attack; make it count."

The students were nothing if not enthusiastic. Too bad enthusiasm counted for little if no skill was involved. Only five of the thirty students managed to hit their target; the rest of them lost their grip on the weapons, sending the chunks of ice flying about. Others slipped on the ice, tossed about by the impetus of their own attacks.

Katara had expected such.

"Lesson number one:" She lectured, "A strong swing is important. A strong grip is _vital_."

"You're the one who gave us ice to fight with," Rukna complained.

"You can grip ice, you can grip bone. You lose your weapon on the battlefield, you're as good as dead. You will _all_ be able to hit your target tomorrow morning. Otherwise, you can expect more pushups. Have I made myself clear?"

The students all saluted, then filed off down the field and back toward the village.

* * *

Katara broke the surface of the sea, gasping for air and treading water. She hugged herself, shivering as she gazed about at the ice cubes that floated around her, each one with a fish trapped inside. As her eyes shifted back and forth, she caught sight of the canoe slowly floating toward her.

"I'm not getting any younger _or _warmer here!" She yelled. "If I freeze to death because of you, I'll haunt you and your descendants for all eternity."

"I'm paddling as fast as I can!" came a voice from the canoe.

"Oh, for the love of-" Katara muttered.

She started swimming her way toward the small craft. It was hard going, even with her waterbending aiding her, but better than freezing to death by a long shot. As she got closer to her target, she submersed herself fully, then with a final push, jumped out of the water like a dolphin-shark, clearing the final ten feet and landing in the canoe. The girl paddling the boat nearly leapt into the water in surprise.

"Jeez, Katara, can a girl get a warning?"

"Akrun, As a warrior of the Water Tribe, you must be prepared for _anything_. Also, it's fun to see you jump. So no." She tugged playfully at the smaller girl's braid. "Now give me my clothes before _you_ freeze to death."

Akrun rolled her eyes at Katara's threat, presenting her with the amorphous pile of blue cloth. "Of course, it's _my_ fault you've been swimming naked in freezing water."

Katara chuckled, casually flicking the water from her hair and skin.

"You know how hard it is to deep-sea swim in clothes? Even with waterbending, the furs make me too slow to catch fish. And of course," she continued, pulling her under-wrappings out of the pile, "you do _not_ want to be wearing these cold."

The matter was dropped for a while, as Katara pulled on layer after layer of clothing. Akrun spoke up again when the silence was getting too unbearable for her.

"I should send Ratuq out to pick you up next time."

Katara's snort and laugh were muffled by the fur of her parka.

"Oh, spirits, please! That would probably _kill_ him."

"Think _he's_ managed to get any killing done?"

"He'd better."

Finally suited up and ready to move, Katara waved her hands about, and the frozen fish skated along the surface, coming to rest in one solid sheet of ice behind the canoe.

* * *

The hunter's sharp eyes focused on the slow one.

Of course, tiger seals were _always_ slow, but this one was the slowest. He stalked the whole pack, hiding by the banks caused by the recent snow, waiting until he knew the straggler would be too far away to catch up, or for the others to come to his aid.

Just a few more seconds...

He leapt over the mound, as racing as fast as he could while maintaining grip on the ice. He cut his target off from the rest of the group, and was about to pounce, when something cast a shadow over them both.

The intruder was a human, with long, dark headfur and a dangerous glint in its eye. It was wielding a large tooth on a stick, as humans were wont to do. And it wanted this kill as well.

The hunter didn't back down, arching itself and roaring, showing off its dangerous teeth.

This human was not like the others. It didn't back down. In fact, it actually took a step toward _the hunter's_ prey. This was unacceptable. The hunter leaped at the human, ready to sink his teeth into its neck.

There was a sharp pain in the hunter's throat. Then a sharper one that ran down his side to his stomach.

The hunter landed on its back, hard. He couldn't turn over, couldn't feel his legs.

Couldn't breathe.

The world was becoming dark.

* * *

Ratuq sheathed his dagger as soon as he felt it leave the wolf-lion's flesh, readjusting the grip on his spear and racing forward to plunge it into the tiger-seal's back. It struggled for a few moments, then became still. He grinned. This one looked like it had enough meat to feed the tribe for _two days_. He dragged the two corpses to his hiding spot behind the snowbanks, and added them to his very full burlap sack. Pulling the sack and his canoe out to the water, he set out toward the village.

Katara and Akrun found him about fifteen minutes later, and even she was impressed at the bulge he was carrying.

"There's no way you got all that," She called out. "You probably filled it with chunks of ice."

"Well" he began, a smirk on his face, "_This_ is a rather oddly-shaped chunk of ice, isn't it?"

He held up the the wolf-lion carcass, laughing at the girls' shocked expressions. Before he could open his mouth to make further comment, a stream of water knocked it out of his hand and into the ocean. Now it was the girls' turn to have a laugh at his expense, before Katara pulled up a globe of water with the dead wolf-lion inside.

"That wasn't funny," Ratuq muttered.

"It's not like there was any harm done," Katara said. "And it was worth the look on your face. Now come on, we've wasted enough time-"

As she faced forward, a Blue-and-white blur came whizzing by her face, missing her nose by inches and embedding itself feet-deep in a nearby iceberg.

"What was that?" she yelped.

"I just threw a spear at you," Ratuq said, matter-of-factly. "I could have killed you or left you with a horrible facial injury. But there was no harm done. And the look on your face was worth it."

Satisfied in making his point, he guided his canoe over to the iceberg to retrieve his weapon, but no amount of pulling could dislodge it. he chuckled sheepishly.

"Uh... A little help?"

"That must have been some throw," Katara said, impressed.

"Just like you taught me."

Katara smiled ruefully. The other two children pretended that they didn't hear her mutter "Just like Dad taught _me_."

With a flick of the wrist, Katara widened the crack that Ratuq's spear had made, and he nearly fell back as he pulled it out.

Then the crack in the iceberg widened of its own volition, running up the side until the entire mountain split in half, kicking up waves that scattered half the fish Katara had caught, and nearly capsized both boats.

When the three young people looked up, they found the strangest thing they had ever seen.

* * *

Sorry I cut it off there. I'm still thinking about all the alterations to canon that would happen without Sokka, but here's one change to the backstory of the canon: in addition to her self-taught waterbending, Katara learned a bit of warrioring from her father, even went on a few hunting trips. And she's taking on Sokka's role of teaching the next generation of hunters and warriors, but she's teaching girls as well as boys. Because she would totally do that.

And I've messed with Canon in that there aren't just little kids and old people in the village any more. All the men have still gone off to war, but there's more than a few ten-to-fourteen year olds, and not just the 5-8 age group we see in canon. I feel better about this in the long run, even though Ratuq and Akrun aren't going to be following Katara on her journey; Katara's not going to leave if the village isn't in safe hands, you know.

That was something that just bugged me in the actual show. Sokka and Katara seemed to be the sole hunters in the tribe; what did they do for the 3+ months until the Northern Tribe got there?


	3. The Boy In the Iceberg, Part B

Here's a thing: How Katara develops in certain areas is going to be different, obviously, but one thing that I will warn you about right now is that her power level is increased by more than a fair bit. She's still mostly self-taught, but she's taught herself some "I can actually use this to _kill_ someone/several people" waterbending and not just "I'll make the tide come in" or "look at all the tricks I can do!" waterbending. Also, you know how her waterbending power skyrockets when she's angry (e.g. accidentally shattering icebergs)? She's going to be angry a lot. Okay? Cool.

* * *

Normally, one wouldn't look twice at an iceberg in the South Pole. But considering the fact that icebergs rarely form perfect spheres, this case was an exception.

Katara circled the odd formation on a floe of ice, a mix of caution and curiosity written on her face. She didn't want to get too close; who knew what sort of trick this could be? But something caught her eye: a warped shadow behind the glassy surface. As she inched toward this new discovery, the image became clearer, yet more confusing; was it... glowing? And what were those arrows? Her face was nearly pressed to the ice when she finally processed all the information.

"Guys?" She called, "I think someone's _inside_ this thing."

Ratuq looked up from gathering the scattered, frozen fish. "Then let him out! See if we can make this hunting trip even _more_ of a hassle!"

"You're the one who threw the spear." Akrun muttered, also busy with collecting spilled game.

Katara placed her palm against the smooth ice, running it up and down to find a suitable spot. When she was satisfied, she pushed, creating a vertical fissure that ran both upward and downward, stopping at her feet but splitting the rest of it open like an egg. She was almost knocked off of her feet by a rush of air, left seeing spots from a light that burst into the sky.

* * *

"Finally."

Zuko, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation (Once removed, soon to be reinstated), allowed himself a small smile.

"Uncle, do you realize what this means?"

The old man, seated cross legged at a low table, put his tile down on the table and took a sip from his cup of tea. "I won't get to finish my game?"

Zuko's smile faltered; still, he wouldn't let Uncle's wouldn't get to him. Not today. Not now. **"**It means my search - it's about to come to an end."

Iroh groaned. "Zuko, are you sure?"

"That light came from an incredibly powerful source. It has to be him!"

"I do not doubt that, even though it _could_ just be the celestial lights. Are you sure you want to enter Southern Water Tribe territory? Have you not heard the stories?"

"The Southern Water Tribe is practically the only place I _haven't_ checked! The Avatar has to be hiding here! Why else would they be attacking every Fire Nation ship that enters these waters?"

"I suspect the same as you, Nephew. But all of the survivors tell the same tale; a single waterbender seems to be responsible for all of the destruction! You expect to survive an encounter with a person who has laid waste to entire crews and fleets?"

Zuko glared, setting his jaw and gritting his teeth.

"I have no choice. Helmsman, head a course for the light!"

* * *

"Will you go penguin sledding with me!"

Katara got that question all the time- she'd practically all of the tribe's children out on the ice for a ride at one point or another- but in context, it was the weirdest thing that happened all day.

"Um... sure?"

"Cool!" the kid yelled, leaping up slowly (paradoxical, yes, but the only way to describe what he'd just done).

He looked around for a bit, confused, then said "So what's going on here?"

"Because clearly," Ratuq chimed in, "something weird is going on with _us _and not the _Air Nomad_ we found _frozen in ice_."

"My name is Aang. And while I admit the 'frozen in ice' part is a bit odd... what's so weird about seeing an Air Nomad?"

"Oh, nothing. Itt's just that nobody's seen one for around a hundred years."

The boy quirked an eyebrow, sending ripples across his arrow tattoo. "You're kidding, right? I was here last month!"

"I _think_ I would have remembered that," Akrun said. "Anyway, you might want to come back with us any-"

She was interrupoted by a low, guttural growl.

"Appa!" the boy yelled, scrabbling over the rim of the iceberg.

The three tribesmen looked on in confusion.

Seconds later, a massive six-legged beast came lumbering out of the bowl. Katara quickly put the other two behind her and dropped into a fighting stance, but calmed down when she noticed the boy on the thing's head

He jumped down and gestured at the creature. "This is Appa, my flying bison."

Katara gave him a side-eye. _Flying_ bison? "Okay. I didn't catch your name."

"Aang."

"Okay, Aang. I'm Katara, she's Akrun, and he's Ratuq."

"Nice to meet your acqu- ac- aaaaa... _CHOO_!"

The three watched in awe as Aang's sneeze sent him airborne.

He landed, none the worse for wear, and grinned. "Nice to meet you."

"You're an airbender?" Katara asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, what's so odd about- oh, yeah, the 'hundred years' thing. Ia there anyone I an talk to about that?"

"My Gran-Gran is the oldest one in the village, but even she wasn't around a hundred yers ago... but it can't hurt, to ask."

She hopped into a boat, Akrun anbd Ratuq taking the other. "Uh... Appa can swim, right?"

"Even better," Aang said with a devious smile. He hopped up onto Appa's head, snapped the reins, and said "Yip-Yip!"

Appa tooka lrunning (more like joggin) start and leapt into the air... to come down with a splash.

Aang grinned sheepishly. "Swimming it is."

* * *

"...but nobody's even _seen_ an air Nomad for a hundred years!"

Katara finished her explanationand waited for Kanna to say something. Old people sure spent a lot of time thinking.

Finally, se said "Send him in."

Katara stuck her head out the tent. "Aang, Gran-Gran wants to see you now!"

Aang jumped up and began to walk in. Before Katara could return, however, a hand roughly grabbed her braid.

"You!"

Katara turned to find a very angry woman.

"Good Afternoon, Miss Kua."

"Don't 'Good Afternoon' me, child! I hear you made my daughter do twenty-five pushups this morning?"

"Technically, she only did fifteen-"

"And you stepped on her back?"

"It's not like I stomped on her or anything-"

"And you're teaching her how to use a club! She's been swinging that thing around all day, nearly scared my arctic hens to death!"

"It's something that she'll have to learn-"

"That's not the point, Katara! How could you force-"

"I do not force anyone to do anything!" Katara interrupted. "Rukna is free to leave my training at any time. Akrun can teach her to fish. Ratuq can take her hunting. She could stay here and weave baskets, dye clothes, or even sit around with her thumb up her ass for all I care, but she _chose_ to be a warrior, and she's chosen everything that comes with it!"

"But you're pushing her too hard! ou're pushing all of them too hard! She's only ten years old, Katara! This isn't-"

Katara held up a hand for silence, her face turning into a mask of barely-contained fury.

"Sokka was nine years old when the Fire Nation attacked our village and killed him. I was _seven_ when I took my first kill. I'm our tribe's first line of defense against the Fire Nation. First lines fall first. And when I fall, our village is doomed if nobody picks up the slack. The enemy isn't going to go easy on your daughter because she's a child. Why should I?"

"Katara, please-"

"The conversation is over."

She turned to leave, and at that exactmoment, something caught her eye.

A black snowflake.

* * *

Normally, one wouldn't look twice at an iceberg in the South Pole. This one was no exception.

Though if one looked closely- far closer than he had reason to- he'd see swear he could see a girl in this one. Of course, after _getting_ that close, he was as good as dead, anyway.

It had taken Katara nearly a year to perfect this craft; part raft, part iceberg, all deadly. The hardest part was adjusting the ice just enough that she could get a clear view from the inside, but nobody outside could see _her _very well_. _She hadn't had a reason to venture use it in quite a while; then she would have started out earlier if it hadn't taken so long for her to realize that there was no way _the gigantic beam of light shooting into the heavens_ went unnoticed.

So here she was, not entirely certain that there had been any Fire Nation presence that close to the tribe, but all the same looking out anyway. With an inward pulling motion, she increased the size of her iceberg raft, from the bottom up, until she could get a nice view of the surrounding area... and the gray spot belching out black smoke amidst the blue and white. It was about half a day's journey from the tribe- and not even heading in its direction, from the looks of things- but too close all the same.

She made her way there slowly- a fast-moving iceberg drew attention- shrinking her craft until it was small enough to hide behind the ship. She waved her hands, swathing the ship in an eerie fog. She waited for the sounds of the crew scrabbling about the deck.

"Who commands this ship?" She yelled. "For what reason do you enter these waters?"

The curvature of the iceberg raft both amplified and distorted her voice, as well as giving it a ghostly echoing quality.

An old, man answered her; she couldn't see his face, but his voice was distinctive- a low tenor, maybe high baritone with an odd edge to it.

"My name is Iroh. I am here on vacation, really. I am always interested in discovering new places, spreading knowledge and-"

"The Fire Nation is not welcome here!"

"Surely you can make an exception in my case; I am not- WOAH!"

The ship bucked violently as a remarkably strong current carried it off. Almost ten minutes of breakneck speeds, sharp turns, and near misses wiyh icebergs, they had entered a new area. to the left and right were dozens of Fire Navy ships, impaled on and frozen frozen inside of icebergs. Some looked to have been in the pocess of exploding; others were mostly intact. Almost all showed evidence of human habitation. Soldiers frozen in place, many as they attempted to abandon ship. Men in lifeboats that never reached the water. Heads and arms and legs without bodies.

It took them nearly half an hour to pass through the valley of death and destruction, the soldiers only able to starte in awe and terror. When they got to the end, they were treated to another round of unearthly speed and left in the middle of nowhere when the fog cleared.

"Leave these waters, Iroh. And never return. Or you will join them."

The ship left, as fast as was humanly possible.

* * *

Katara took on a slower pace as she returned to the village. All that bending had tired her out; pushing a ship along at high speed did that. It would have been easier to just kill them all, but something about Iroh's voice was sincere, trustworthy. She never thought the Fire Nation capable of such a tone; it was enough for her to know that Iroh was, while not a friend by any stretch of the imagination, at least not her foe.

It too late when she realized that her foe had already reached the village.

* * *

Whoo! That was a pretty quick update. Don't explect that too often. Internet is hard to come by in Jamaica. And Writer's Blok can strike at any time.


End file.
